The disclosure relates to electronic transactions that have a content part and a funds transaction part which is hereinafter defined in accordance with the term “Summa.” The disclosure also relates to methods and systems for conducting electronic transactions between two parties having Summa accounts in which there is the transmission of a Summa message from one party acting as the sender and the other party acting as the receiver, wherein any user can be the sender or the receiver. This invention is related to embodiments of the Summa transactions directed toward micropayments, processing of message types, escrow accounts, and multiple currency and credit accounts.
The parent applications, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein, discuss methods and systems for the two-way transfer of payments and messages between at least two users of electronic communication devices (ECD) in communication with a computer server system with which both users have access and using the server system to both transfer electronic messages and to credit and debit the users accounts as required and authorized by the users. These methods and systems feature the payment of a small amount to users of the electronic messaging device with the delivery of a commercial advertisement. As will become evident from the following discussion, micropayments may be incorporated into such a system and associated with the delivery of electronic messages/content via general purpose computer operating web browsers, or specialized software clients.
As discussed in the parent applications, the ability of the Summa transactions to facilitate two-way micropayments provides numerous benefits to Internet sites seeking to monetize their services. For example, websites containing user generated content, such as Facebook™, Wikipedia™, Flikr™, and YouTube™, are very popular and serve a large user base. In many cases, the providers of these services seek to monetize the value of their services by placing advertisements on the pages alongside the user generated content. In many cases, users have no control over the placement or content of any advertisements which may appear alongside their user generated content. As described below, electronic content such as web pages (which may include text, video, audio, programming, or any other electronic information) may be incorporated into the content part of a Summa message in a fashion that allows for collecting funds each time the content is uploaded by the user of a Summa enabled ECD. Conversely, users may receive a payment for activating a hyperlink to, for example, view an advertisement, to complete a survey, or to complete a paid task. Data collected from managing the transactions may be useful for better targeting of commercial messages and data analysis, managing different message types, and for managing store credits and multiple currencies, and managing the escrow of payments pending the delivery of physical goods.
In the specification, the below listing of terms have the following meaning:
“Electronic Communication Device” (“ECD”) is any device with computing and communication functions which is capable of communicating with other electronic devices such as computers, cell phones, personal digital assistant (“PDA”), interactive television sets, or other such devices via wired or wireless transmissions, including the internet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, or similar existing or future services or protocols. Examples of ECDs include mobile devices as well as ECDs that are placed at fixed locations such as network server farms, cell phone towers, and other permanent or semi-permanent installations.
“Client” refers to an application or system which communicates via a network with a server network. In this specification, the client typically includes user's ECD running client software in network communication with the Summa Server Network Interface.
“Mobile Electronic Device” (“MED”) is a mobile, usually hand held, electronic communication device equipped with the ability to communicate with other ECD via cell phone networks, the internet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, or similar existing or future services or protocols. This may be a cell phone, mobile phone, or personal digital assistant (PDA), but may also include electronic communication device mounted in a vehicle or a portable vendor's kiosk or other system which is intended to be transported from place to place with relative ease.
“Behavioral metrics” includes any data points that can be measured to track the behavior, response, location or other information about the user of an ECD.
“Receipt charge” is the charge set by the receiver of a Summa message (see definition below) to be applied against the account of a sender and credited to the account of a receiver as generally or specifically defined in the charge schedule. A receipt charge may be negative, which would indicate a payment from the receiver to the sender.
“Receiver” and “recipient” refer to the user of a Summa account (hereinafter defined) who receives a Summa message (hereinafter defined).
“Sender” refers to the user who sends a Summa message (hereinafter defined).
“Service provider” refers to an entity that provides Summa accounts (hereinafter defined) to a plurality of users through at least one Summa network server. Typically, the service provider may be a bank or other financial institution, an internet service provider, or another business offering or managing credits accessible to users through a Summa account (hereinafter defined).
“Summa message” refers to electronic information composed of two parts, an electronic content part (or “message part”) and a funds transfer part. The content part, delivered to the user's ECD, would typically be text, video, audio, or other electronic content typical of electronic messaging provided by the sender, while the funds transfer part is a packet of information defining and authorizing a transfer of funds to be credited to or debited from the Summa associated financial account of the sender to or from the Summa associated financial account of the recipient of the Summa message, wherein the funds transfer is contingent on, co-dependent and/or concurrent to delivery of the content part. Delivery may also be contingent on other conditions set by either the sender or recipient, as described elsewhere.
“Summa” is an adjective modifying any portion of the Summa messaging and financial transaction system and in particular indicates that the associated noun which Summa modifies is related to a Summa transaction and/or the gathering and use of data associated with Summa transactions.
“Summa account” refers to an account assigned to a user by a Summa service provider which enables the user to engage in the two-way exchange of Summa messages, as either a sender or a receiver of Summa messages. Each Summa account consists of at least one electronically managed financial account and at least one integrated electronic messaging system. Or, conversely, each Summa account consists of at least one electronic messaging system that is integrated into the electronic management of one or more financial accounts. Alternatively, each Summa account may be composed of a two-way electronic messaging system hosted by the Summa service provider that includes the information, programming and authorizations necessary to credit or debit to one or more financial accounts.
“Summa enabled ECD” refers to any electronic device operating independently of the Summa Link servers which has the necessary programming to accept and/or send and/or display or deliver a Summa message through a computer network associated with the Summa Link servers.
“Summa hyperlink” refers to a code, generally hypertext markup language (HTML), which contains or is associated with information defining a Summa message, including both the funds transfer part and the electronic content part, that has been pre-defined by the creator/publisher of the hyperlink. Activation of a Summa hyperlink initiates the processing of the Summa transaction between the user activating the hyperlink and the creator/publisher. An error free Summa transaction will result in the delivery of the electronic content part of the Summa message associated with the Summa hyperlink concurrent with, and perhaps conditional upon, the transfer of the funds part associated with the Summa message, with the funds being transferred to or from the Summa account of the person activating the hyperlink and from or to the party designated by the Summa hyperlink, typically the creator/publisher and/or agents or clients of the publisher.
“Summa transaction” refers to an electronic transaction involving the processing a Summa message, including processing of both the content part and the funds transfer part and the exchange of information to users and servers regarding the transaction.
“User” refers to any person or business entity with a Summa account on the network. A user may be either the receiver or sender of a Summa message.
“User generated page” refers to any electronic content, including text, video, audio, or programming, which may be treated as the content part of a Summa message and is intended to be made available for retrieval by other users of a computer network.